Relay



Feb. 9, 1943.

Filed Jan. 27, 1941 J. M. WILSON RELAY Ill!!! III/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIl/IIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIIA INVENTOR John M.Wi.1$o1 LATTORNEY Patented Feb. 9, 1943 *UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RELAY JohnM. Wilson, Minneapolis, Minn, assignor to Minneapolis-HoneywellRegulator Company, Minneapolis, Minn, a corporation of DelawareApplication January 2'1, 1941, Serial No. 378,058 20 Claims. (Cl.200-104) The present invention relates to relay devices, andparticularly to electromagnetically operated relays.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved relay forcontrolling relatively heavy currents, which shall be more compact andinexpensive than those previously known.

Another object of this invention is to construct an electromagneticrelay having a clapper type armature, wherein the movable contactstravel toward the stationary contacts in a substantially straight line.

Another object of this invention is to provide an electromagnetic relayhaving a plurality of movable contacts, wherein unitary means areprovided for supporting all said contacts, and. said unitary means isflexibly supported at three points.

A further object of the present invention is to provide anelectromagnetic relay device wherein all the electrical contacts, bothmovable and stationary, may be readily removed for replacement.

Other objects of the present invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the accompanying specification, claims and drawing ofwhich:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of a relay device embodying the presentinvention,

Figure 2 shows an end elevation'of the device of Figure 1,

Figure 3 shows a cross-section taken on the line 33 of Figure 2, lookingin the direction of the arrows, and

Figure 4 shows certain details of the relay device of Figure 1.

The drawing shows a frame member it of substantially U-shapedcross-section, having a plurality of leg members ll extending therefrom,which are drilled as at i2 to provide holes for mounting purposes.Mounted on the bottom of the U is an electromagnet 12 consisting of anelectrical winding I3, and a magnetic circuit therefor consisting of aninternal core i5 and an external magnetic member I4 of substatially U-shape, and an armature member 16. The core member l5 may be providedwith a conventional shading ring such as that shown at H,

The armature i6 ishingedly attached as at l8 to one of the legs of themagnetic U-shaped member l4. A member 2i, preferably of bronze or othernon-magnetic material is attached to the armature IS in any convenientmanner and extends beyond the hinge i8 as shown in Figure 2. A tensionspring 32 is attached at one end to the member 2| and at its other endto a lug 23 which is Joined in any suitable manner to the base of theelectromagnet i2. The eflect of the spring 22 is to bias the armature itto an upward position. The upward movement of the armature i6 is limitedby an angle bracket 24 attached to the leg of the Ushaped member i4opposite to that on which the armature is hinged, and extending into thepath of upward movement of the armature.

Mounted on the legs of the U-shaped frame member 10 in any suitablemanner so as to span the space between the legs is an insulating platemember having a number of raised parallel ridges 3i runninglongitudinally of its upper surface. Each pair of ridges 3| provides achannel 32 between them. Along the bottom of each channel 32 is a groove33, in which removable contact members 34 are mounted. The contactmembers 34 are held in place on the plate member 30 by suitable screws35. A pair of shoulders 36 extend from each of the ridges 3i andpartially overlie the contact member 34 lying in the grooves 33 in thebottom of the channel 32.

A large slot 31 is cut transversely through the plate 30 at its centralportion. The ridges 3i span the slot 31. The contact members 34 areprovided with wearing surfaces 38 which extend closely adjacent the slot31.

The contact members 34 may be removed from the plate 30 by taking outthe screws and then sliding the contact member 34 longitudinally of theplate until it is free of the shoulders 38. This removal is indicated inthe case of one of the contactmembers 34 shown in the lower part ofFigure' 1. The screws 33 also serve readily as means for fasteningconductors to the contacts 34.

Loosely mounted in the slot 31 is another insulating member 40. Themember 40 is partially supported by a flat spring member 4i which isattached to the insulating member 40 near its central portion and has apair of extending legs 42 which engage the sides of the U-shaped framemember Hi. It is obvious that the member 4| may be formed by a simpleprocess such as stamping, and because of its resilient character may bereadily bent and inserted into place on the frame ill. The insulatingmember 40 is also partly supported by a bracket 43 attached to theunderside of its central portion and having an arm extending downwardlyinto close proximity with the ar mature It. A lug 44 mounted in anysuitable manner on the armature 16 extends upwardly therefrom and isconnected by a pin and slot arrangement, or any other suitableconstruction, to the downwardly extending portion of the bracket 7 metalpieces.

43. It may be seen therefore that the insulating. member 49 is supportedat three points, namely. the points at which the legs 42 of the flatspring member 4| engage the sides of the housing Ill, and the pin andslot connection between the bracket 43and the lug 44 on the armature 16.

The upper surface of the insulating member 49 is provided with a numberof parallel channels 45'which accommodate the bottoms of the ridges 3iwhere they span the slot 31. Attached to the insulating member 40between each pair of ridges Si, in any suitable manner, is a guidemember 46. The guide members 46 may consist of flat stamped A contactmember 49 is supported by the insulating member 40 between each pair ofridges 31. These members 49 are provided with slots fitting the guidemembers 41 and holding the contacts 49 in place. Each contact member 49is held in engagement with the insulating member 40 by a spring 48 whichis in turn held in position by a cap member 41.

The cap member 41 and the contact members 49 are received and held onthe guidemember 46 through the use of a cross-shaped slot arrangementwhich is well known in the art. The cap member 41 and the contact 49 areeach provided with two slots which intersect at right angles, one of theslots being shorter than the other. The guide members 46 are providedwith successive portions of varying width, as shown in Fig. 4.

The portion 50, at the top of the guide 46, is

the widest portion, being slightly wider than the 4 length of the shortslots on the cap 41 and the tact member are cut away, as shown in thecap 47 in Fig. 4, so that the cap and contact member are freelyrotatable about the narrow portion 52, when they are held on the samelevel with that portion.

In assembling one of the contact members 49 on the insulating member 40,the contact member is first held so that its longer slot is in line withthe guide 46. The contact member is passed over the portions 59 and 5!in that position. When the portion 52 is reached, the contact member isrotated through 90, so that its shorter slot is in line with the guide46. The contact member is then slid down over the portion 53 which,coacts A with the shorter slot to'maintain the contact and 5| passthrough the long slot in the cap 41.

After reaching this position, the cap 41 is rotated through 90, bringingits short slot into line with the guide 46. The cap is then released,and the spring 48, bein compressed, lifts the cap so that the portion 5ienters the short slot therein.

, 4 The wide portion 56 holds the cap on the guide 46,

. and threbyretains'the whole contact assembly in position.

The contact members 49, when in operating position, lie transversely tothe insulating member 40 and parallel to the ribs 3| and the contactmembers 34. Their length is such that they bridge the slot 31. When thewinding [3 of the electromagnet i2 is energized the armature I6 ispulled down against the core l5 against the action of the spring 22.This movement of the armature I6 through the pin and slot connection 44pulls the bracket 43 and the insulating member 40 downwardly, so thatthe contacts 49 engage thecontacts 34 on either side of the slot 31.

The construction disclosed herein permits freedom of movement and easeof mounting of the movable contacts 49. The movable contacts aresupported on the insulating member 40 which is in turn supported at onlythree points. The advantages of this type of support in preventingerratic movement of the supported body are well known. It will be seenthat the applicants structure provides accurate movement of the movingcontact without the necessity for machining or carefully fitting any ofthe-parts of his device. I have also provided means for readily removingany of the contacts so that they may be replaced in the event they areburned through the application of overload to the switching mechanism.It should be noted that the stationary contacts are removedhorizontally, while the movable contacts are removed vertically. In thisway, the

danger of accidental engagement of the contacts during removal isreduced.

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my inventionit should be understood that it is defined only by the appended claims.In particular, while I have disclosed an embodiment mounted in aparticular orientation, the use of terms such as upper, lower,horizontal, vertical, in this specification and claims is only aconvenient manner of showing the relative locations of the parts and isin no wise to be construed as a limitation of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a relay, a frame of substantially U-shaped cross-section, anelectromagnet mounted on the bight of said U-shaped frame, aclapper-type armature mounted above said electromagnet for cooperationtherewith and biased to move upwardly from said electromagnet, aninsulating plate supported across the legs of said U-shaped frame andhaving a transverse slot above said armature and a plurality oflongitudinal ridges in its upper surface, said ridges spanning saidslot.

stationary contacts mounted on said plate between each two adjacentridges on both sides of said slot, a movable contact carrying member,vmeans flexibly supporting said member in said slot, a connectionbetween said member and said armature and adapted to allow relativelateral movement of said member and said armature, and contacts mountedon said member so as to lie between said ridges and overlie saidstationary contacts.

2. In a relay, an insulating plate member having a transverse slottherein and a plurality of longitudinal ridges in its upper surface,said ridges spanning said slot, a first set of contacts mounted on saidmember between each two adjacent ridges on both sides of said slot, amovable contact carrying member supported in said slot, a second set ofcontacts mounted on said last-mentioned member so as to lie between andparallel to said ridges'and overlie said stationary contacts, and meansfor relatively moving said members to effect engagement between saidsets of contacts.

amass;

3. In a relay, an insulating plate member hav-' ing a transverse slottherein and a plurality of longitudinal ridges in its upper surface,said ridges spanning said slot, a first set of contacts mounted on saidmember between each two adjacent ridges on both sides of said slot,means removably fastening said contacts on said member, said plate beingconstructed so as to guide said contacts for removal in a longitudinaldirection, a movable contact carrying member flexibly supported in saidslot, a second set of contacts removably mounted on said last-mentionedmember, means removably fasteningsaid second set of contacts onsaidcontact carrying member, said fastening means serving to guide saidcontacts for removal in a vertical direction, said second set ofcontacts when fastened overlying. said first set, and means forrelatively moving said members to effect engagement of said sets ofcontacts.

4. In a switch, an insulating plate having at least one pair oflongitudinal ridges in its upper surface and a longitudinal channelbetween each spanning said slot, a first set of contacts mounted on saidmember between each two adjacent ridges on both sides of said slot, aframe for supporting pair of ridges, contact means, including a wearingsurface, interfittingly disposed in each channel whereby the contactmeans is restrained against lateral movement in the channel, shouldermeans on said plate overlying each said channel so as to restrain saidcontact means from vertical movement, and means for removably fasteningsaid contact means on said plate, said contact means being removable bysliding the same longitudinally of said channel upon disengagement ofsaid fastening means, said wearing surface passing between said shouldermeans.

5. In a switch, an insulating plate member having a transverse slottherein, at least one pair of longitudinal ridges in its upper surfaceand a longitudinal channel between each pair of ridges. contact meansdisposed in each channel, shoulder means on said plate overlying each ofsaid channels so as to restrain said contact means from verticalmovement, and means for removably fastening said contact means on saidplate, said contact means being slidable longitudinally of said slotupon disengagement of said fastening means, a movable contact carryingmember supported in said slot, second contact means removably mounted onsaid member and extending transversely thereof above saidfirst-mentioned contact means, and means for relatively moving saidmembers to effect engagement of said two contact means.

6. In a relay, an insulating plate member having a transverse slottherein and a plurality of longitudinal rid es in its upper surface.said rid es spanning said slot, 2. first set of contacts mounted on saidmember between each two adjacent ridges on both sides of said slot, aframe for sup ortin said plate, a movable contact carrying memberloosely mounted in said slot, spring means flexibly connecting saidmember and said frame. a second set of contacts mounted on saidlast-mentioned member so as to lie between and parallel to said ridgesand overlie said stationary contacts, and means for relatively movinsaid members to effect enga ement between said sets of contacts.

7. In a relay, an insulating plate member having a transverse slottherein and a plurality of longitudinal rid es in its up er surface.said rid es spanning said slot, 9. first set of contacts mounted on saidmember between each two adjacent rid es on both sides of said slot. aframe for supportin said plate, a movable contact carrying memberloosely mounted in said slot, a fiat spring connecting the centralportion of said contact carrysaid-plate, an electromagnet mounted onsaid frame beneath said slot, an armature mounted above saidelectromagnet for cooperation there-v with and biased to move upwardlytherefrom, a movable contact carrying member mounted in said slot, aconnection between said contact-carrying member and said armature, a

flat spring connecting the central portion of said contact carryingmember beneath said slot with a pair of points on said frame spaced fromsaid member, said spring and said connection cooperating to providethree-point suspension of said member, a second set of contacts mountedon said last-mentioned member so as to lie between and parallel to saidridges and overlie said stationary contacts, said electromagnet beingeffective upon energization thereof to cause downward movement of saidarmature and engagement of said two sets of contacts.

9. In a relay, an insulating plate member having a transverse slottherein and a plurality of longitudinal ridges in its upper surface,said ridges spanning said slot, a first set of contacts mounted on saidmember between each two adjacent ridges on both sides of said slot, aframe for supporting said plate, an electromagnet mounted on said framebeneath said slot, a hinged armature mounted above said electromagnetfor cooperation therewith and biased to move upwardly therefrom, amovable contact carrying member loosely mounted in said slot, a pin andslot connection between said contact-carrying member and said armatureto permit straight line motion of said member upon motion of saidarmature about its hinge, a flat spring connecting the central portionof said contact carrying member beneath said slot with a pair of pointson said frame spaced from said member, said spring and said connectioncooperating to provide three-point suspension of said member, a secondset of contacts mounted on said last-mentioned member so as to liebetween and parallel to said ridges and overlie said stationarycontacts, said electromagnet being effective upon energization thereofto cause downward movement of sa d armature and engagement of said twosets of contacts.

10. In a relay, an insulating plate member having a transverse slottherein and a plurality of longitudinal ridges in its upper surface,said ridges spanning said slot, at first set of contacts mounted onsaidmember between each two adjacent ridges on both sides of said slot. amovable contact carrying member supported in said slot, a second set ofcontacts mounted on said last-mentioned member and spanning said slot soas to lie between and parallel to said ridges and overlie saidstationary contacts on both sides of said slot, and means for relativelymoving said members to effect engagement between said sets of contacts.

11. In a switch, an insulating plate having at least one pair oflongitudinal ridges in its upper surface and a longitudinal channelbetween each loosely pair of ridges, contact means, including a wearingsurface, interflttingly disposed in each channel whereby the contactmeans is restrained against lateral movement in the channel, shouldermeans on said plate overlying each said channel so as to restrain saidcontact means from vertical movement, and means for removably fasteningsaid contact means on said plate, said contact means being removable bysliding the same longitudinally of said channel upon disengagement ofsaid fastening means, said wearing surface passing between said shouldermeans, said fasten:

ingmeans also serving to fasten conductor terminals to said contactmeans.

12. In a switch, in combination, stationary contact means, movablecontact means including a flexible supporting member, means for support-I points.

13. In a switch, in combination, stationary contact means, movablecontact means, means for supporting said movable contact means flexiblyat two spaced points, and means for moving said movable contact meansinto engagement with said stationary contact means comprising anelectromagnet, a hinged armature associated therewith, and apin-and-slot connection between said armature and a third point on saidmovable contact means spaced from said two points, said connectioncausing motion of said third point in a substantially straight line uponmovement of said armature about its hinge.

14; In a relay, an insulating plate member having a transverse slottherein and a plurality of longitudinal ridges in its upper surface,said ridges spanning said slot, a first set of contacts mounted on saidmember between each two adjacent ridges on both sides of said slot, 9.movable contact carrying member loosely supported in said slot andhaving a plurality of channels in its upper surface to accommodate theportions of said ridges which span said slot, a second set of contactsmounted on said last-mentioned member so as to lie between and parallelto said ridges and overlie said stationary contacts, and means forrelatively moving said members to effect engagement between-said sets ofcontacts.

15. In a switch, in combination, stationary contact means, movablecontact means including a flexible supporting memi, r, means forsupporting said flexible member at two spaced points, means for movingsaid movable contact means into engagement with said stationary contactmeans comprisinga driving member connected to said flexible member at athird point spaced laterally from a line joining said two points, andsaid driving member comprising a second'means of support for saidmovable contactmeans whereby said movable contact means is normally heldin disengaged relation with respect to said stationary contact means.

16. In a switch, in combination, a plurality of stationary contacts, aplurality of movable contacts for cooperation therewith, unitary meansfor mounting said movable contacts, flexible means for carrying saidunitary means for free movement in a contact engaging direction, saidcarrying means being supported at two points spaced laterally of saidunitary means, and said points being relatively widely spaced wherebysaid unitary means is restrained against erratic movement transverselyof said contact engag direction.

17. In a switch, in combination, a plurality of stationary contacts, aplurality of movable con tacts for cooperation therewith, unitary meansfor mounting said movable contacts, flexible means for carrying saidunitary means for free movement in a contact engaging direction, saidcarrying means being supported at two points spaced laterally of saidunitary means whereby said unitary means is restrained against erraticmovement transversely of said contact engag direction, means for movingsaid unitary me in a contact engaging direction, and connections betweensaid moving means and said unitary means centrally thereof whereby saidmovable contacts engage said stationary contacts concurrently and withequal pressure.

18. In a switch, in combination, a plurality of stationary contacts andframe therefor, a plurality of movable contacts for cooperation withsaid stationary contacts, a unitary member for mounting said movablecontacts, a flat substantially U-shaped spring member for flexiblycarrying said unitary member for free movement in a contact engagingdirection, the bight portion of said spring member being secured to saidunitary member and the ends of said spring member being hingedlysupported on said frame, said ends being yieldably movable toward eachother whereby said hinged engagement may be effected, and said endsbeing relatively widely spaced whereby erratic movement of said unitarymember transversely of said contact engaging direction is restrained.

19. In a switch, in combination, a plurality of stationary contacts andframe therefor, a plurality of movable contacts for cooperation withsaid stationary contacts, a unitary member for mountingsaid movablecontacts, a flat substantially u -shaped spring member for flexiblycarrying said unitary member for free movement in a contact engagingdirection, the bi'ght portion of said spring member being secured tosaid unitary member and the ends of said spring member being supportedon said frame whereby erratic movement of said unitary membertransversely of said contact engaging direction is restrained, and meansfor moving said unitary member in a contact engaging direction, saidmoving means being connected to said unitary member centrally thereofand comprising a second support therefor whereby said contacts arenormally held in disengaged relation.

20. In a multiple contact switch including stationary and movablecontacts and unitary mounting means therefor, means for holding saidcontacts in spaced and. operable relation comprising a flexible membersupported at three points in a common plane and comprising in effect atriangular support, two of said points being so disposed as to permitfree movement of said movable contacts. in a contact engaging directionand restraining erratic movement of said contacts with respect to saidstationary contacts, and said third point supporting said movablecontacts normally in disengaged relation with respect to said stationarycontacts.

JOHN M. WILSON.

